Thursday, December 17, 2009

What can Brown do to you?

With business activity, fuel prices, and competition in the parcel business all way down, guess what’s UP?

You guessed it – small package rates. UPS and FedEx have announced their Christmas presents for their customers, and it’s the same as last year – rate increases. The overall increases for both carriers are 5.9% for ground and 6.9% for air, but the devil is in the details. For many shipping zones, increases will be substantially higher.

And Brown is going for the gusto with assessorial charges. After jumping address correction charges 20% last year, UPS is raising them an additional 33% for 2009, from five dollars last year to eight dollars a pop next month. These maddening fees could be seen as nickel and diming, but the overall numbers are in an altogether different league: the Big Two make approximately 33% of their total revenue from assessorial charges, netting them billions of dollars – your dollars.

To fight back, you need to be sure that you are shipping smart, taking advantage of every possible discount, and using the carriers’ (very complex) rate and service guides to trim your package costs wherever possible.

About TOTALogistix

TOTALogistix is a privately held corporation headquartered in Sparta, NJ. We helped define the Third Party Logistics Industry in 1991. Today we provide a wide spectrum of transportation and related supply chain management services to manufacturers, retailers and distributors throughout North America.
In our 20+ years in business, we’ve saved money for nine out of ten companies whose transportation we’ve analyzed. We’re confident we can do the same for you. Improving logistics performance starts here.